The just shall live by faith
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4. Even physically, you cannot live on something that has no life in it. Dead air is death to you if you breathe it dead water or dead food likewise.
Whatever you take in the way of food or drink must have in it the element of life, or else you cannot live on it. So also in order that you may live by the word of God, that word has in it the element of life. Therefore this word is called “the word of life.” Since it is the word of God and is imbued with life, the life that is in it must be the life of God; and this is eternal life.
Therefore it is truly said that the words of the Lord are “the words of eternal life.” Whenever the word of God comes to you, at that very time and in that word, eternal life comes to you. And when you refuse to receive the word, you are rejecting eternal life. Jesus himself said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” You have “passed from death unto life.” John 5:24.
Jesus used the example of living by bread as an illustration of living by the word of God. This was not chosen at random. All the words of the Lord were definitely used to teach an all-important lesson. Physically you do live by bread using the term “bread” as embracing all proper food. But in order that you shall live by bread, it is essential that it be inside of you. And in order to live by the word of God, it is just as essential that it shall be inside of you.
You don’t believe that you can live by buying the very best bread and then looking at it occasionally, or by analyzing it, and endeavoring to solve the mysteries of its composition and how it could sustain your life. Yet thousands of people really seem to suppose that they can live by the word of God that way. Many people buy a Bible of eight or ten times the proper size, with a lot of notes of darkening counsels in it, lay it on the table, and pride themselves that they “believe the Bible.” They really seem to think that in some mysterious way it will make them live. But it would be just as sensible and just as beneficial for them to buy a beautifully decorated loaf of bread of several times the usual size, and lay it on the table, but not eat any, and then proclaim that they “believe in good living.”
You do not expect to live by bread in this way: and you cannot live by the word of God in this way. In order to live by bread, you know it must be taken into your mouth, and be properly chewed and prepared for the digestive process, and then swallowed and given to the digestive process, so that the life that is in it may be taken to all parts of your system. So with the word of God; you must receive it as it is in truth, the word of God; you must give it a place in your heart as the word of life; then you will find it to truly be the word of life.
In the Bible, this very idea of living by bread by eating it, is carried over and applied to the word of God. “But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll. And He said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.” “Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.” Eze. 2:8-3:4.10.
Before the prophet could speak the word of God to others, he had to find it to be the word of God to himself. Before he could convey it as the word of life to others, he had to know it as the word of life to himself. In order for him to do this, he was commanded to eat it, swallow it, and fill himself with it. He was to hear it and receive it in his heart. This instruction is to you so you can live by the life of God. When you take the name of Christ you are directed to “hold forth the word of life;” but it must be life to you in your inner being before you can share it as the word of life to others.
This same thought is expressed in another place. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Notice that this does not say, I ate the chapters or I ate the verses, or even, I ate the subjects. No, it says, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them” —the words.
Here is where thousands miss the real benefit of the word of God. They try to grasp too much at once, and so really get nothing. Words are nothing to you if you don’t get the real thoughts that they are trying to express. And the greater the mind of the one speaking, the deeper are the thoughts that are expressed, even in the simplest words. The mind of the One speaking in the Bible is infinite; and the thoughts expressed in simple words are of eternal depth because they are the revelation of “the eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
With your small and finite mind you are not capable of quickly grasping the thoughts taught in many of the words of the Bible. You are not capable of comprehending the words of a whole chapter, or even of a whole verse at a time. One word at a time of the words of God, is as much as your mind is capable of considering with profit.
Certainly anyone who professes to receive the words of the Bible as the word of the eternal God, expressing His thought in His eternal purpose, would have to have a good deal of conceit of his own powers of mind to think himself capable of grasping at once the thought of many of those words. “Be not wise in your own conceits.” “Be not high-minded.”
Do not think it too small a thing for you to take one word of God at a time, and consider it carefully, and meditate on it prayerfully, and receive it into your heart as the word of life to you. Receive it this way, and you will find that the word will indeed be to you the word of life and will bring constant joy and rejoicing to your heart. Don’t think this too slow a way of getting through the Bible, or through a book or chapter of the Bible. In this way you will get through it to infinitely better advantage than to read through it quickly without understanding it. In this way you get every word, and every word that you get is eternal life to you. For Jesus said that man shall live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” There is life in every word, and as certainly as you receive a word of it into your mind and heart, in that word and by that word you have eternal life.
Look again at the words of Jesus: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” How do you live physically by eating bread? Is it by gulping great chunks or whole slices at a time? You know it isn’t. And you know that if you attempt to live by eating bread that way, you won’t live very long at all. You know that in living by bread, you do it by taking a bite at a time.
So when Jesus used this illustration and the phrase, “every word of God”, wasn’t He intending to teach you that one word of God at a time is the way to live by it, just as one bite of bread at a time is the way you live by bread? Isn’t this same lesson taught in the scripture, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them”? “Son of man, … eat that I give thee.” Eat the word of God. Eat “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Then you will live a healthy and strong spiritual life just as by eating the best food, you live a healthy and strong physical life. Eat the bread of heaven and it will bring you the life of heaven; just as eating the bread of earth brings you physical life.
Living By Faith- E.J.W., and A.T. Jones
Maranatha